


522 Altea Meadows

by plumeriafairy14



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gen, Minor Klance, Zine piece, established hunay, ghost story, past shallura, so minor that it's almost invisible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 14:17:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12961137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumeriafairy14/pseuds/plumeriafairy14
Summary: Hunk was a taxi cab driver who just wanted to get the day done so that he could go home to his lovely wife and daughter. But then, he meets a very unlikely passenger.





	522 Altea Meadows

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys. This is supposed to be a zine piece but the zine failed miserably. So, instead of collecting dust in my files, I'm just going to post it. 
> 
> This story was inspired by a classic urban legend that I think we've all heard of.

_“This is Blue, downtown is jammed, avoid it.”_ The radio cackled over the pounding noise of the rain against the cab’s windshield. The cabbie, Hunk, picked up while he put the car on neutral when he stopped at a red light.

“Yeah, this is Yellow, copy that, buddy.” He spoke as he pressed the button on the handheld. “How’s the fish?” he asked, making use of their cabbie jargon for passenger.

 _“Biting left and right, man.”_ Lance replied smugly over the transmitter. _“Oh, and there goes Keith.”_ A groan. _“Managed to nab a pretty lady before I could. Damn!”_

Hunk chuckled as he put the car into drive once again when the light turned green. “Come on, Lance.” He said as he glanced at the small laminated photograph of his wife, Shay, cuddling their smiling baby girl. “You know Keith isn’t interested in them.”

_“Yeah, but still!”_

“Is someone jealous?” Hunk grinned good naturedly and the playfulness was quite obvious in his tone.

Lance sighed. _“Okay, you know what, a cute lady’s coming my way. Later!”_

There was a brief stream of static before the other end became deathly quiet. Hunk glanced at his watch to see how much longer before his shift ends. He grimaced when lightning flashed and thunder rolled in the gloomy sky but when he realized that his shift was almost over after the next passenger he takes, he thought that it wasn’t so bad. Hunk exhaled a determined huff and decided that he’s going to make the most of his shift as interesting as he can before he goes off the clock and head home to his family. Shay told him that she’s making his favorite meal for dinner and Hunk couldn’t wait to come home to hot food, his wife’s kisses, and their little girl’s hugs.

The rain mellowed down when Hunk turned left on the Arus shopping district. Lights from the boutiques briefly illuminated the inside the cab as he drove by. Keeping alert for any sign of passengers, Hunk finally noticed a lady standing underneath the drizzle near an old waiting shed. She waved her hand when she spotted the cab to hail it and Hunk immediately eased the car to a stop.

“Good evening, miss!” Hunk greeted his passenger cheerfully. He looked at her through the rear view mirror and saw her behind the windowed partition that divided the inside of the vehicle. “Where to?”

“Hi,” her voice was soft and it sounded almost far away but she smiled. Her dark skin illuminated the glow of the street lamp outside and her hair was an elegant tumble of silvery curls. Dark droplets from standing under the rain stained her lilac turtle neck and Hunk wondered why this woman went out without an umbrella when it was in the morning news that there will be scattered thunderstorms throughout the afternoon and evening. “522 Altean Meadows, please.”

“Right away!” Hunk pressed a button to start the meter and mentally calculated the most efficient route to get to the lady’s destination. As he drove, there was silence in the car and a few more moments later, Hunk turned on the heater because the weather was not helping how chilly it was.

“Bad weather we’re having, huh, miss?” Hunk attempted to start some polite conversation and when his eyes glanced on the rearview mirror, his dark eyes met with the lady’s blue ones. “I’m sorry that the rain caught up to you. If you want me to turn up the heater some more, I can.”

“It’s fine, thank you.” The woman replied with a smile. “The rain doesn’t bother me at all.” She paused and her eyes turned up to watch the gray sky. “The sun is nice but I love the rain more.”

“Summer’s for me, ma’am.” Hunk said. He turned into another intersection and continued down the road. “I always look forward to taking my little girl and my wife to the beach. They love it there.”

“Ah, you’re married?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Hunk beamed. “Five years with a wonderful lady and a bouncing three year old.”

“Lovely.” The lady smiled and the leather upholstery slightly squeaked when she leaned back. “I’m getting married this weekend, actually.”

“Oh, wow, congratulations!” Hunk realized that his passenger was probably at the shopping district making last minute preparations for her wedding. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“His name’s Takashi.” She replied now and her eyes lit up with happiness despite the darkness at the backseat. “He’s an instructor for air force cadets and a fighter pilot himself. He’s a really wonderful guy!”

“A pilot, huh?” A hum passed through Hunk as he tried to picture it. “Well, I’m sure he’s a lucky guy to be marrying a nice lady like you.”

“Why, thank you, mister.” The woman chuckled softly. “I’m really excited for it. I wish it was tomorrow already, though.”

“It’ll come, I promise. The day my wife and I got married, I kept calling her that morning because I can’t see her until the ceremony.” Hunk smiled at the memory. “I was so nervous that I was on the edge of panic and I almost threw up; I needed to hear her voice.”

“You can’t see the bride in her wedding dress, as they say.”

When the meter hit eleven dollars, Hunk turned on an intersection and the view outside shifted from the hazy lights of the city and the shopping districts to a softer atmosphere of the suburbs. Hunk felt a sort of giddiness inside just like how his passengers’ moods affect him. There are bad days when Hunk gets the typical brooding, rude passenger but he always tries not to let it get to him. But there are passengers like this lady here that cheers him up especially now she told him about her excitement of becoming a blushing bride this weekend.

The downpour had already dissipated into a drizzle when Hunk drove into a fancy looking neighborhood. Wide windows that framed grand chandeliers, chrome rimmed cars, mountain spring inspired backyard pools; this was the part of town where movies were filmed and whose households held dinner parties once a month. Hunk peered through the glass fog and the raindrops that dotted the passenger window and he drove slowly while scanning the brass numbers that hung on the doors or the mailboxes to look for the specific address.

Finally, he eased the car into a stop in front of a house different from the other ones he passed by. The light was on inside and it looked grand like the others but there was a sad air about it that crawled through Hunk’s skin. It obviously reflected that whoever lived there was in every way, financially blessed but it looked empty even from the outside.

“Here we are, miss.” Hunk managed to smile after he shook off the glum feeling he had. He admitted that his house wasn’t as swell as this one in 522 Altea Meadows, but Shay made sure to keep it warm and cozy and Hunk always came home to her kisses and their daughter’s gleeful squeals. “Uh, miss?”

The digital numbers on the meter flashed $12.50 from where he had picked up the passenger but when hunk looked at the back through the rearview mirror, there was no one there.

It took a moment for it to register to him but when it finally did, Hunk jumped out of the car and stood underneath the faint drizzle under the gloomy gray sky. He rubbed his arms as goosebumps emerged and he felt a cold chill slide down his spine before the hairs on his nape stood. There wasn’t any way for someone to bail on him especially that the car was moving and anyone who would jump out of a moving was either a daredevil, an idiot, a cheapskate who doesn’t want to pay, or all three.

There was absolutely no way that lady jumped out without getting injured but it was like no one was there to begin with.

“Can I help you?” Hunk was suddenly startled when he heard an older voice. When he followed the direction of the sound, he saw an old man with a black umbrella in one hand and a plastic bag of groceries on the other. His hair was pale and his eyes had a depth of age as they wrinkled at the corners. “You don’t look too well.”

“Of course I don’t, sir!” Hunk’s voice shook and his words were strained. “I…I swear I had this passenger and she said to bring her here but she’s… there…” he pointed frantically at car window and the empty seat inside. The man didn’t say anything and just looked at him with an expression of concern. So, not to make a scene, Hunk just scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I’m not crazy, I swear! Maybe…Maybe it’s just fatigue making me imagine things.”

“You certainly did not imagine it, son.” The man replied kindly. He placed his plastic of groceries on the ground and fished out his wallet from his pocket before he pulled out a photograph. “Is this her?”

Hunk’s eyes widened. “Yes.” He nodded when he saw that the woman on the photograph was indeed the passenger. “White hair, blue eyes, dark skin, and she wore a lilac turtle neck. He hailed the cab at the shopping district.”

An eerie silence filled the gap between them and Hunk felt more concern flood his system but the man finally took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, fogging the cold air in front of him. “Her name is Allura and she’s my daughter.” He said. “She died five years ago when a drunk driver hit her while she was crossing the street.”

Hunk couldn’t believe this and felt as if there were cold fingers crawling underneath his skin. “A-At the Arus shopping district?”

“At the pedestrian lane near a waiting shed there.” The older man nodded and finally added, “She was supposed to get married that weekend.”

At a loss of words, Hunk just stared at him with his lips parted in a shocked gape and his dark eyes wide with disbelief, then fear, and finally, a wave of pity.

“I’m sorry for your loss, sir.” He managed to say, absolutely clueless on what else he could say about what happened. The older man nodded and fished out a couple of bills from his wallet.

“Keep the change.”

“How…?” Hunk wondered at how the man knew the amount that flashed on the meter in the car but the other immediately interrupted his next words with a shake of his head that was accompanied by a kind but sad smile.

“You’re not the first one, son.” He replied as he picked up his groceries. “I hope that you can let this go.” For a brief moment, he pursed his lips and a shadow crossed his. “My daughter is just trying to get home.” A nod of acknowledgement. “Have a good night.”

Hunk watched the man turn to take his leave and he retreated back into the empty shell of a house that, for this father, would never again be a home. Getting into the car, Hunk drove straight home and avoided driving by the Arus district for the next couple of days.

*

It hadn’t stopped pouring in the last few days and Lance drove at a careful speed but it wasn’t slow enough that he’d get pulled over. Light illuminated the dark street when lightning flashed and webbed the dark sky. He was only one passenger short before he could call it quits until tomorrow but the day had been slow.

Then, that was when he saw a woman standing in the rain with her hand raised to hail his cab. Lance immediately pulled to the side by the waiting shed and unlocked the doors.

“Hi, miss!” Lance greeted cheerfully while he glanced over his shoulder at the woman in the passenger seat. Her silvery hair was briefly illuminated by the lightning that flashed once more. “Where are ‘ya headed?”

The woman’s eyes appeared empty but she smiled at Lance. “To 522 Altea Meadows, please.”


End file.
